Agency

Dain Walker
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Business
  • Updated Biweekly

In 2018, I was broke, 200k in debt, and working an unfulfilling job. I started a content creation agency and scaled it from 1 freelancer to a team of 30+ in just 4 short years. Now I run Australia’s fastest-growing agency: rivyl. As a guy who runs an agency working with global brands and celebrities, I decided to start interviewing people who take Agency over their lives. To unpack what entrepreneurs do to get ahead in business and life. My goal is to unearth the tactics, mindset, and motives that make high performers tick so you can get a leg up and take Agency with whatever you’re doing.

  1. 1d ago

    #136 - Delegate The Outcome: The System For Building Autonomous Teams | Jess Whatman

    Master effective delegation, scale your business, and start building autonomous teams. Discover how to escape the daily grind and leverage AI to drive 400% growth.In this episode, we sit down with Jess Whatman, Founder and CEO of AgentSync, to deconstruct how she scaled her agency by 400% in just two years by mastering the art of delegation. Jess breaks down why founders inevitably become the biggest problem in their own companies and shares her exact framework for stepping out of the day-to-day operations.She shares exactly why you need to stop hiring junior roles and how to use AI to build an internal company intranet.In this episode, we break down:The $10 vs. $100 Rule: How to calculate your true hourly rate and why doing your own admin is costing your company money.Building an AI Intranet: How Jess uses Claude and Superhuman Docs to automate 80% of her team's internal questions.Delegating Outcomes: Why micromanaging tasks destroys your company culture, and how to delegate judgment instead.Maker vs. Manager: How to identify your true founder identity and structure your entire team to support it.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkjLevel up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction(03:21) - Why Delegation is a Skill You Must Learn(08:28) - The Delegation Game: When to Use AI vs. Humans(14:05) - Why You Should Never Trust AI With High-Stakes Deals(17:08) - Will AI Actually Replace Your Team?(21:29) - Why AI is Destroying Entry-Level Jobs(28:08) - How to Build an AI Intranet(31:03) - How to Audit Your Time(36:06) - The 90-Day Plan to Fire Yourself from the Day-to-Day(42:08) - The $10 vs. $100/Hour Task Framework(48:59) - Why Great Leaders Delegate Outcomes, Not Tasks(01:09:44) - Maker vs. Manager: Finding Your True Founder Identity

  2. Aug 14

    #135 - Stop Making This Costly Mistake in B2B Pitches | Ed Chambers

    Master B2B marketing, high-stakes negotiations, and modern leadership. What happens when you walk into a multi-million dollar boardroom pitch and executives try to tear you down?In this episode, we sit down with Ed Chambers, an expert in finance and corporate strategy, to deconstruct his proven methods. From his early days in Dubai to leading massive marketing teams across Australia and the UK, Ed reveals what it actually takes to win in today's corporate landscape.He shares exactly why he actively encourages his team to share their failures to destroy the corporate "yes culture," how his 80/20 rule prevents employee burnout, and why relying purely on AI to build business relationships is a guaranteed way to lose deals.In this episode, we break down:Hostile Negotiations: How to read a room, handle condescending executives, and use radical vulnerability as your ultimate closing tool.The Data Outlier Strategy: Why ignoring the masses and investigating the extreme outliers is the secret to uncovering massive market gaps.The 80/20 Rule: The exact capacity management framework Ed uses to prevent team burnout and stop deadly scope creep.Eradicating "Yes Culture": Why you need to build a flat-structure team that is comfortable sharing failures, and why forced corporate fun is destroying your brand pride.Bite-Sized ROI: How Ed’s team ditched traditional 36-page reports for 6-second visual assets to drive massive commercial growth.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkjLevel up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction(03:20) - What Marketing in Dubai Looked Like Before Digital(08:24) - Rebuilding Brand Trust(11:06) - Why AI Can Never Replace Human Trust in Sales(13:20) - Vulnerability in High-Stakes Negotiations(25:27) - The Mistake Founders Make in B2B Pitches(37:17) - Body Language & Reading a Boardroom(43:21) - How to Handle Condescending Executives in Pitches(56:32) - Building Internal Culture and True Brand Pride(01:03:19) - The Outlier Strategy: Finding Growth in Ignored Data(01:11:54) - The Flat Team Structure & Empathetic Leadership(01:15:50) - The 80/20 Rule to Stop Employee Burnout(01:24:49) - Dropping the Ego(01:34:30) - Why Raw Creative is Useless Without Commercial ROI

  3. Aug 7

    #134 - Finder's $680M Success: What Most Agencies Get Wrong About The Algorithm | Jeremy Cabral

    In this episode, we sit down with Jeremy Cabral to deconstruct his exact method for building Finder into a global comparison powerhouse. Learn all about his reverse engineering success, mastering the PR machine, and building an untouchable business moat. Jeremy reveals his most unconventional and effective tactics, from changing job titles to hide top talent from recruiters, to intentionally trying to dissuade candidates in interviews, and the exact framework he used to outsmart massive search algorithms. In this episode, we break down: Beating Google: Surviving a manual webmaster penalty that took their traffic to zero and the serendipitous 72-hour recovery. Hiding Top Talent: Why Jeremy intentionally changed employee job titles to stop recruiters from poaching his best people. The Content Factory: The scalable system that allowed his team to publish 180 handwritten articles a day to completely outpace the industry. Mastering Global PR: The exact formula for reverse engineering the news cycle to get massive national coverage and high-authority links. Match and Exceed: The ultimate framework for analysing competitors, neutralising their advantages, and completely dominating your market. (00:00) - Introduction (03:38) - Surviving a Google Penalty (10:55) - Building a Culture Driven by Radical Values (17:58) - Why Jeremy Actively Dissuades Candidates in Job Interviews (22:52) - The 5 Ways to Retain Top Talent (Without Them Leaving) (28:52) - Hiding Top Talent from Recruiters (35:27) - The Growth Strategy for Ultimate Scale (45:26) - Why Distribution Beats a Great Product Every Time (50:53) - The "Match and Exceed" Competitive Framework (52:46) - Global PR & Reverse Engineering the News Cycle (01:04:55) - Following Natural Traction & Testing Concepts Early (01:13:13) - Producing 180 Handwritten Articles a Day (01:17:23) - Reverse Engineering Social Algorithms for Viral Reach (01:23:51) - Creating an Untouchable Business Moat (01:34:08) - Sell the Service Before You Build the Software

  4. Jul 31

    #133 - Booking Global Icons in 48 Hours: How We Built Australia's #1 Festival | Mike Christidis

    Here is how the co-founder of Australia's largest independent music and events company navigated a $3.6M loss while scaling a $150M live music empire.In this episode, we sit down with Mike Christidis of Untitled Group to deconstruct exactly how he navigated industry failures, managed massive egos, and ultimately Built Australia's #1 Festival.This is a masterclass in high-stakes negotiation, crisis management, and scaling a business in one of the toughest industries on earth. Mike pulls back the curtain on the economics of global music festivals, the reality from nightclubs to massive arenas, and the data-driven systems his team uses to spot massive artists before the rest of the world catches on.In this episode, we break down:The $3.6M Loss: How Untitled Group navigated a massive hit while actively scaling their operations.The "Uncle Test": The data-driven system Mike's team uses to spot "$100M artists" before the rest of the industry catches on.Promoter Mayo: The truth behind shows and the economics of global music festivals.Outsmarting Agents: How a strategic 10-minute silence became the ultimate code for negotiating with massive industry egos.Building Australia's #1 Festival: The unfiltered reality of how Mike went from local nightclubs into a $150M live music empire.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction(06:15) - From Local Nightclubs to Massive Arenas(12:40) - How to Spot a $100M Artist First(26:55) - The Economics of Global Music Festivals(34:10) - Outsmarting Music Industry Agents(42:30) - Managing Massive Egos & High-Stakes Negotiations(49:45) - The 48-Hour Strategy That Landed Nelly Furtado(57:15) - Risk Management When Millions Are on the Line(1:13:20) - What Happens When a Headline Act Pulls Out(1:21:05) - The Pitch That Secured Their First Major Arena Show(1:28:40) - You Can't Buy Culture: Building Australia's #1 Festival(1:36:15) - The Future of Live Events & Untitled Group's Next Move(1:43:50) - Mike’s Ultimate Advice for Operators

  5. Jul 24

    #132 - The "Invoice" Every Founder Pays For The 16-Hour Day | Robert Van der Moigg

    Founder burnout is real, and Robert Van der Moigg can prove it. You work 16 hour days, you skip the recovery, and you tell yourself you'll fix your health once the business is built. Robert spent 20 years managing the private lives of self made billionaires and royalty, and he has bad news for you. Your biology is keeping a ledger, and one day it sends the invoice. In this episode of The Agency Podcast, Robert, the founder of Life X DNA, breaks down preventative health, longevity, and epigenetics, and what the ultra wealthy understood about optimising their bodies decades before the rest of us. He explains why he believes the system focuses on treating illness more than preventing it, how DNA testing and genetic testing went from millions of dollars to a few hundred, and the exact toll the entrepreneur grind can take on your body. We cover the science of burnout and chronic nervous system overload, why the founder grind can accelerate aging, inflammation, methylation, gut health, cold plunge and sauna protocols, circadian rhythm and sleep, and why he thinks most supplements are a waste of money. Robert also shares his take on where the wellness and food industries fall short, from supplement marketing to what ends up in the food supply. If you are a founder, entrepreneur, or high performer running yourself into the ground, this conversation on health optimisation, biohacking, and longevity is the wake up call before the invoice arrives. This conversation is for general information and entertainment only and is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) Intro (01:35) 20 Years Managing Billionaires' Private Lives (07:10) Your Genes Are a Roadmap, Not a Destiny (10:01) Treating Illness vs Preventing It (16:49) The Business Model Behind Modern Medicine (20:19) Your Laptop Isn't Your Most Important Device (22:46) The 16-Hour Founder Day, Dissected (25:04) Chronic Nervous System Overload (a.k.a. Burnout) (27:40) Fix Your Morning: Get the Phone Out of the Bedroom (37:21) Cold, Heat & Sun: Comfort Is Making You Soft (46:11) Why He Can Eat Gluten in Europe but Not at Home (53:07) How the Founder Grind Accelerates Aging (01:03:43) Why Blind Supplements Are "Expensive Urine" (01:11:08) Robert's Pacemaker Wake-Up Call (01:16:59) Don't Be the Richest Man in the Graveyard

  6. Jul 17

    #131 - Stop Treating Social Media Like a Billboard: Showpo's Content Strategy | Jane Lu

    Jane is the mastermind and "The Lazy CEO" behind Showpo, a massive global E-commerce empire. Jane realised that spending 40 years climbing the corporate accounting ladder wasn't financial security, it was a life she didn't want. So, she took a leap. But when her first business failed and her partner quit, telling her that "nobody shops online," Jane didn't back down. Determined to prove everyone wrong, she built a new website in a single night and launched what would eventually become Showpo. Because she had no money and couldn't bear the shame of telling her parents she quit her prestigious job, Jane lived a double life. For two full years, she put on a corporate suit and rode the bus into the city with her mum, secretly building her business on the side. She bootstrapped her inventory by carrying giant bags of clothes on public transport and utilized a zero-cash consignment hack to get stock without paying upfront. In this episode, Jane breaks down the strategies she used to grow Showpo, the marketing that put it on the map, and the lessons she learned along the way. In this episode, we break down: • The 2-Year Secret: Why Jane kept Showpo from her immigrant parents until she could buy them a car and pay off their mortgage.• The Zero-Inventory Strategy: How to launch an online store without buying stock upfront.• Growing Without a Marketing Budget: The $0 strategy that took Showpo from 3,000 to 20,000 followers in a month.• Defying the Gatekeepers: Why Jane refused to give equity to a CTO who said she'd never reach $100M without him.• Surviving the E-Commerce Trap: How to manage dead stock, avoid endless discounting, and protect your margins.• The Power of Taking Action: Why execution beats intelligence every time. (00:00) Intro (06:44) Leaving the corporate "prison sentence" (10:55) Her first business & "nobody shops online" (12:07) The shame of failing and hiding it from her parents (15:17) Why you shouldn't quit your job (20:16) The second business: first sale in a week (24:14) Telling her parents (two years later) (27:24) What no one tells you about e-commerce (34:12) Going viral: the Facebook growth hack (38:49) Becoming the "Lazy CEO" (43:15) Why every founder needs a personal brand (53:36) Value vs. selling: social isn't a license to sell (1:04:22) "You'll never hit $100M". Let's prove them wrong (1:14:16) Family, business & having it all (1:30:37) Agency beats intelligence

  7. Jul 11

    #130 - How to Build A Business When You Have No Money | Yasser Zaki

    When Yasser Zaki left Egypt for Australia, his father gave him one warning: "Don't come back crying". Within months, he found himself broke, sleeping under a tree in Campsie, and eating one meal a day at 4 PM just to survive the night.  Fast forward to today, Yasser is the powerhouse CEO of Tender Loving Care spanning 7 industries, 9 businesses, 8 countries, and 3,000 employees.In this episode, Yasser reveals the secrets to his systems. He shares the story of how he called out the boss's integrity, only to be betrayed by a coworker and fired in month one. More importantly, he breaks down the exact high-level business mechanics he used to scale, from the horizontal ecosystem strategy he learned from Richard Branson to the "backward" butcher paper planning method that guarantees success. In this episode, Yasser reveals the secrets to his systems. He shares the story of how he called out the boss's integrity, only to be betrayed by a coworker and fired in month one. More importantly, he breaks down the exact high-level business mechanics he used to scale, from the horizontal ecosystem strategy he learned from Richard Branson to the "backward" butcher paper planning method that guarantees success. In this episode, we break down:• The Reality of Starting Over: Surviving extreme poverty and outsmarting a rigged system.• The Vengeance Mindset: How getting stitched up by a coworker fueled Yasser to become the number one salesman.• The Branson Blueprint: Why vertical scaling is dangerous and how horizontal ecosystems de-risk your empire.• Acquisition Arbitrage: How to buy companies that service your own business and instantly multiply their value.• The Butcher Paper Strategy: Why you should reverse engineer your goals and completely ignore your current skills.• Scaling to 3,000 Employees: Why processes create culture and why relying on people will break your systems.• Building Elite Leaders: How Yasser dared his Head of Growth to beat his skill set and how she eventually took his job as Group CEO. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction(01:27) - "Don't Come Back Crying": Arriving in Australia(10:06) - Fired in Month One: The Sales Betrayal(14:56) - Surviving on One Meal a Day at 4 PM(27:21) - The 2-Day Butcher Paper Business Strategy(32:29) - The Backward Business Plan: Reverse Engineering Success(41:00) - How to Control the Conversation with Mentors(43:55) - The Richard Branson Horizontal Scaling Strategy(45:32) - Acquisition Arbitrage: Buying Your Own Supply Chain(58:35) - Daring His Employee to Take His Job as CEO(1:04:11) - Scaling to 3,000 Employees: Systems vs. People(1:13:15) - The True Cost of Fear in Business Growth(1:25:23) - A Ship Without Goodness Sinks

  8. Jul 3

    #129 - The Truth About Success From A 2x Guinness World Record Holder | James Castrission

    In this episode, we sit down with James Castrission, founder of MyAdventure Group and a 2 x Guinness World Record holding explorer who left a safe job at Deloitte to tackle the most treacherous environments on Earth. James shares the unfiltered reality of stripping away corporate ego, building elite teams, and using extreme adversity to forge an unbreakable mindset.We dive straight into the mechanics of survival and leadership. From paddling across the Tasman Sea for 62 days, to dragging 160kg sleds 2,200km across Antarctica, James unpacks what it takes to survive and translates those lessons into business.In this episode, we break down:• The Corporate Escape: Why James quit his Big 4 accounting job and risked everything to escape a predetermined life.• Surviving the Tasman Sea: The reality of 13-meter waves, zero sleep, and sharks bumping their kayak in the dark.• The Antarctic Rivalry: How an unexpected rival turned a 2,200km ski into the ultimate test of endurance.• The Execution Rule: Why talent is overrated in business, and how meticulous planning allows you to adapt to chaos.• Extreme Accountability: The psychological shift that happens when leaders take absolute blame for a team's failure.• Stripping the Ego: How James breaks down corporate titles in the wilderness to build true vulnerability in high-performing teams. Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio (00:00) - Introduction(03:38) - Finding Adventure & The Murray River Trip(05:32) - The Murray River Lesson: Aligning Objectives(11:09) - The Decision to Paddle to New Zealand(17:30) - Planning the Tasman Sea Crossing & Sponsorships(23:27) - Extreme Accountability: Why Leaders Take the Blame(27:14) - Surviving 13-Meter Waves & Sharks(32:19) - 62 Days Later: Arriving in New Zealand(37:15) - The 1% Execution Rule & Why Talent is Overrated(42:42) - Antarctica: The "Super Bowl" of Adventure(49:50) - Weight Cutting & Strategy(57:05) - Meeting the Norwegian "Polar Ninja"(01:03:20) - Severe Infections & The Decision to Quit(01:14:02) - The Final Test

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5
out of 5
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About

In 2018, I was broke, 200k in debt, and working an unfulfilling job. I started a content creation agency and scaled it from 1 freelancer to a team of 30+ in just 4 short years. Now I run Australia’s fastest-growing agency: rivyl. As a guy who runs an agency working with global brands and celebrities, I decided to start interviewing people who take Agency over their lives. To unpack what entrepreneurs do to get ahead in business and life. My goal is to unearth the tactics, mindset, and motives that make high performers tick so you can get a leg up and take Agency with whatever you’re doing.

Information

  • Creator
    Dain Walker
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    138
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Dain Walker
  • Show Website
    Agency

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